


Am I Scaring You?

by TheBeckster



Category: Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons Series (Video Games), Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns
Genre: Campfires, Gen, Holly gives Colin a little advice to help him conquer his fears, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Tumblr Prompt, minor Holly/Hector
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27719528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBeckster/pseuds/TheBeckster
Summary: During Westown's autumn bonfire, Colin gets a little spooked by a story and Holly shed a little light on some secrets of adulthood. Everybody is scared of something.
Relationships: Colin & Holly (Trio of Towns)





	Am I Scaring You?

**Author's Note:**

> I was doing some tumblr prompts, and had so much fun with this one. What was supposed to be a drabble got just a wee bit longer than that, and I thought it was worth cleaning up my phone typos and posting up here. The prompt was "Am I scaring you?"
> 
> I hope you enjoy!
> 
> If you want, feel free to drop by [ my tumblr ](http://beck-a-leck.tumblr.com), and you can even drop a new  drabble prompt  if you want!

"And then the girl heard something scratching along the roof of the car. _Scriiiiit_..." Noelle pitched her voice high and shrill, forming her hands into claws for effect. She raked the air in front of her. " _Scriiiit_... 'It's just the wind' the girl told herself, 'just the wind blowin a half-broken branch across the car, that's all. I'll see in the mornin it's nothin to worry about. Johnny'll be back with gas any minute now.' And so she waited, locked in the car in the pitch black of the night. Hours passed, but Johnny never returned. She saw nothin, and she heard nothin except that ceaseless scratching against the roof of the car. All night, _scriiit... scriiit... scriiit_..."

An anticipatory hush hung over the bonfire, nothing to be heard but the crackle of firewood, and the song of night bugs. Noelle's eyes gleamed with delight as she looked around her captive audience.

Holly scanned the circle too, most everyone knew this story back to front, but the adults were humoring Noelle. She was doing a mighty fine job putting a spooky spin on the old urban legend. The only one who was new to this particular tale was wedged tightly between her and Hector on a fallen log. Colin was trembling ever so slightly, shaking like the dry leaves in the near-bare trees. Holly put her arm around his shoulder and held him a little tighter.

Noelle continued her story. "Finally, after a terrifying, sleepless night, the sky began to lighten. In the shadows of predawn, Annie thought she saw something or someone moving around outside the car. It couldn't be Johnny, he would'a come straight back to the car. Annie didn't move, or make a sound, she barely even breathed as she waited for the sun to come up. Even now, she still heard the scratching. Finally there was enough light to see by, Annie, shivering with fear, unlocked the car door-"

"I think I want another s'more!" Colin announced loudly, jumping to his feet.

Noelle laughed, not unkindly, but she still laughed. "Am I scaring you?"

Holly could tell, even in the dim bonfire light that Colin's face had gone bright red. "N-no! I just want another s'more. that's all. Y-you can go ahead and finish your story. I've heard this one before."

Colin scampered away from the bonfire over to the picnic table where the s'mores fixings had been left. Only after his son was out of earshot did Hector sigh, deep and disappointed.

"I've got this one," Holly whispered, patting him on the knee before getting up.

As she sidestepped out of the circle, she heard Carrie say emphatically, "Lord, Noelle, I don't know where you learned to tell stories like this, but you're givin' _me_ the heebie jeebies, and I _taught you_ this story."

Holly sidled up next to Colin at the desserts table. He was spending an inordinate amount of time picking a marshmallow to roast. Holly picked up a marshmallow skewer of her own and began constructing the s'mores necessities. They were far enough away from the fire she knew they wouldn't be overheard.

"You know there's no shame in being afraid. Half the point of telling ghost stories is to scare people."

"I-I'm not scared." Colin resolutely grabbed a marshmallow, but paused midway to skewering it. Something snapped out in the darkness, and he scanned the deep blackness wide-eyed.

"Honey, it's just a made up story. There's never really been a hook-handed serial killer out there killing teenagers and hanging their bodies above their cars."

Colin made a choking noise, "That's how it ends?"

Holly laughed lightly, "Colin, think about it. How ridiculous does that sound without Noelle's spooky storytelling?"

Colin laughed too, nervously, "Y-yeah, I guess your right. It is a little silly."

"That's all scary stories are, really, just a kinda silly, ridiculous story wrapped up in a really scary trenchcoat."

"Yeah, I guess..." he resumed skewering his marshmallow, and then turned his attention to the chocolate selection. He picked a peanutbutter cup, and added gloomily as he unwrapped it. "I wish I wasn't so scared of everything. I wish I could be brave like you, or Pa."

"Everybody is afraid of something, even grown ups."

"Not Pa."

"Sure he is. His fears are just a little less tangible than a hook-handed serial killer. Lots of adults' fear are like that."

"What's that mean? Tangible?"

"Tangible means something you can touch, or something that's real. Like this chocolate." Holly broke a square of milk chocolate in two and shared it with Colin. "Something that's intangible can be like sickness, or that good feeling you get from perfectly roasting a marshmallow."

Colin chewed his piece of chocolate for a quiet, thoughtful moment. "Miss Holly, is your fear tangible or not?"

"Hmmm, well, I have quite a lot of fears, some of them are tangible, and some of them are not."

"What's a tangible one?"

Holly lowered her voice and said solemnly, "You promise not to tell if I share with you?"

Colin's eyes went wide and he nodded firmly.

"I'm afraid of bees."

"What?" He almost laughed, a smile fought to curl his lips.

"It's true," Holly said in all earnest. "I'm afraid of bees. Truth be told, I don't like most bugs, but bees and wasps and such in particular really scare me."

"B-but bees are so nice. They pollinate the crops and flowers and make us honey. A-and you're a farmer, bees should be your friends. They're so important!"

"I know," Holly laughed. "I know all that, and I know they most likely won't sting me, they just want pollen and nectar, but I can't help it. They buzz so loudly and they've got those stingers. And when they come at me-" she shuddered before adding with a wry smile. "If you ever see me working the fields, and then suddenly throw my tools, and run away screaming, chances are there was a bee nearby."

Colin smiled and laughed with her. "Well, bees don't scare me. Maybe I can help with that."

"I'd like that." Holly gave him a little side hug. "See you're braver than me in that regard. If Noelle was telling a story about some killer wasps or something, I'd've spent the whole story here making s'mores." Holly looked back to the fire circle. "Speaking of, I think she's done with her story. Look's like it's Brad's turn, and you know all his scary stories are about food."

Colin laughed one more time, and gathered his prepared graham crackers, peanutbutter cup, and skewered marshmallow and turned back to the fire. "I guess everyone's scared of something, but everyone's brave about something too, aren't they?"

Holly smiled warmly, "That they are, honey."

They sat back down around the fire just in time to hear Brad launch into a truely gruesome story about a commercial kitchen he had once worked in. Truly, a health inspector's worst nightmare.


End file.
